by Frey Ortega
Julien continued. “Well, we have the resources, and we do have that yacht just sitting there, not being used. I don’t even know why we bought that money-guzzler. No one uses it, even though it’s staffed. We were supposed to use it to help foster a relationship with some of the merfolk living in the bay nearby, but instead it just sits in the water for when someone wants to have a party on it.”
“You guys literally live like one-percenters,” Eos muttered. “There’re yachts, and chauffeurs, and gold in the hallways. The Skydick is a testament to man’s arrogance, is what it is.”
Bennett had to look up at Eos at that, blinking. “Skydick?” the young warlock asked.
Eos laughed. “Oh, yeah. That’s what I call the Blanchard building. Doesn’t it kinda look like a giant robot wang?”
Bennett shook his head at that.
“Anyway, that’s beside the point. How do you all even have so much money, anyway?” Eos asked.
“For vampires, the answer is a long lifespan with a lot of returns on business ventures, mostly,” Ifeya said as she turned to Bennett. “Anyway, that’s beside the point. How do you feel about all of this, Bennett?”
Everyone turned to look at Bennett, and the warlock shrank in his seat once more, before shrugging lightly. “I don’t know,” he said. “Should I have a say? You’re all doing so much just to keep me safe. I don’t know how to feel about all of this. I’m confused and thankful, I suppose. I’ll go with whatever makes it easier on all of you. Whether that means staying on that yacht or going undercover and changing my identity…I don’t want to be any more of a burden than I already am.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Bennett,” Julien said, offering a small smile. “Wherever you end up, Elijah will be there.”
Elijah tried his best to give a reassuring grin to his mate. “Always.”
Bennett nodded, and curled up in his seat a bit more. Elijah could still notice the tension in his mate’s body. It was in the way Bennett’s shoulders slumped and curled inward, and in the way the warlock wouldn’t really look anyone in the eye.
Anyone except Elijah, anyway.
When Bennett and Elijah’s gazes met, Elijah’s breath couldn’t help but hitch as he smiled. Bennett smiled back, albeit weakly.
“Wherever he goes, I follow,” Elijah said, still looking into Bennett’s eyes.
When Bennett finally looked away, there was a glassiness in those pale blue eyes that made Elijah want to brook the space between them, and to wrap his arms around his mate like a protective cocoon.
Bennett shouldn’t have had to suffer the way he had for so long.
Elijah just wanted to make all of the warlock’s worries melt away.
Julien nodded. “Far be it from me to make you stay away from your mate. Fine. We’ll have you guys take the yacht. The plan might be weird enough to work.”
“I just hope that this blows over as soon as possible,” Elijah said. “And that no one else ends up getting hurt.”
“Hopefully this is the worst of it,” Julien answered. “But we have to be prepared for things to get worse before it gets better. Let us hope the cleaners decide to give up and move on quickly.”
“And if they don’t?” Ifeya asked.
Julien frowned. “Then we’ll have to drive them out of our city by force, if we have to.”
Chapter Eleven
The next twenty-four hours after that meeting back in the Blanchard building were a blur, almost as much of a blur as the past few days since Elijah admitted that he and Bennett were mates.
Almost.
Bennett’s entire world changed—yet again—in one fell swoop. It seemed like just when he was gaining his footing, he was getting hit by a wrecking ball again. His first date with Elijah had gone terribly wrong when someone started attacking them. The attacker turned out to be the brother of his worst nightmare—a man who looked just like the person who had ruined his life, if it weren’t for the humanity in those piercing eyes.
Yes, it had only barely sunk in that he had been shot at by Marcel’s brother.
Then, the two only friends he’d made since gaining his footing back in the world had passed. Murdered, because of their friendship to him. He’d put an entire coven of vampires and a house of witches in danger just by continuing to exist.
And that was a bummer, to put it mildly.
In addition to that, the Cleaners were in town because of him, and in response to that, the Blanchard coven was stowing him away like some kind of witness to be protected. On a luxury yacht, fully staffed with people that the coven kept on retainer for God-only-knows-what-reason.
Eos was right—the coven lived like the lavishly wealthy. It was any wonder they didn’t have a bigger target on their backs.
To top it all off, this stay at this mega-yacht—was that was it was called? Bennett didn’t know. Did it truly matter?—was a plan suggested by the very same person who had shot at him. The very same man who tried to kill him out of a sense of mercy was now offering up a plan to try and save him.
And if that wasn’t crazy enough, here he was—in a large boat that was bigger than the house he’d been in growing up.
Bennett didn’t think life would turn out this way. Although he had to admit—this was way better than being dead and lifeless, desiccated like a discarded coconut husk, and tossed aside in a ditch by the highway. That had always been where he thought he’d end up.
The yacht had a pool, a hot tub, a fully stocked bar, and a room with a balcony view of vast, open water all around them, and the city in the horizon. The room itself looked to be almost the same style as a room in the Blanchard building. Sleek and ultramodern, with windows that blocked UV light and shuttered automatically throughout the day, opening in the night. The door leading into the bathroom was all glass, and Bennett could see a bath tub on a raised platform right beside a glass shower stall with a waterfall head right above them.
Everything looked expensive.
Everything looked way too luxurious for Bennett’s tastes.
Everything looked not at all real to Bennett, who still felt like he was floating high above his own body.
Truthfully, it almost felt like a vacation. Almost as though he was both literally and figuratively miles and miles away from all his troubles back on dry land.
Almost.
If hunters didn’t want to murder him and if opening the windows and doors didn’t let sunlight in, which would kill the one person Bennett knew with one hundred percent certainty didn’t want him dead, maybe Bennett would have felt more at peace. Maybe it would have felt more like a vacation. No matter how luxurious his accommodations, he was still behind thick walls and glass panel windows.
Instead here he was, sitting in a room far more lavish than his own room in the Blanchard building—what he’d found out Eos called the Skydick, which Bennett cracked a smile at—in the corner of the room, while Elijah slept on the bed, sprawled out…shirtless. In his underwear.
Elijah was a vision to behold. His chest rose and fell with every breath, and the lines of sinew on his body was clear as day even in the dim light of the room they were in. He looked like a sleeping lion—golden and beautiful, with all that muscle and strength prominently on display and yet definitely in repose. A light dusting of hair trailed down Elijah’s chest, growing thicker closer to the vampire’s pelvis.
Wow.
His mate was…stunning, and Bennett, finally feeling himself come back to his body, could actually properly appreciate Elijah’s sleeping form.
Wow. He slept next to that.
Perhaps more worrisome was the fact that even though the two of them had slept together in the same bed, Bennett didn’t even recall any of it happening, except for the extraordinary warmth he felt wrapped around him.
Bennett didn’t know what to feel more dismayed at. Maybe he could be upset over the fact that he slept next to that—a vision of virility sprawled out over those white linen sheets, all muscle and sinew that almost made
Bennett drool—and the only thing he did was to actually sleep instead of other things hot-blooded males would have done given the situation, or he could be upset at the fact that he was now on this boat that was basically just going around in circles in the open water because people wanted him dead.
Or both. I could definitely be upset at both. Both things are like a big, cosmic “fuck you,” honestly. One would say it was almost as if the universe was conspiring against me.
Almost.
Bennett curled up against one of the chairs in the room, watching the waves in the horizon before Elijah could catch him staring. The boat was sailing out into the sea—untethered, unbothered—and he was thankful for the blinds and the tint on the windows. Something told him it was just a little bit too bright and sunny outside, which was in glaring contrast to the dark and stormy emotions he was having within. He needed to stay here, indoors, thinking about how the waves lapped against the boat, rather than enjoying himself out there.
Bennett didn’t really feel like he deserved to do that.
But he did look at Elijah from his vantage point on the chair in the corner. He sat up a little straighter, trying to memorize every line and curve and sinew on Elijah’s prone body. Bennett knew Elijah was a handsome man, but this was different. When else could Bennett have a moment of peace to just really look at Elijah?
Probably never.
Bennett stared at the sleeping half-naked man with the blankets covering his lower body suggestively. His chest rose and fell as he slept, and Bennett noticed the way Elijah’s muscles—even at rest—seemed to be perfectly cut and contoured on his body. His nipples were surrounded by a light dusting of hair, that then traveled toward the middle of his chest, and then downward past his belly button, straight to the very real tent that was hidden under a thick blanket, and what Bennett could only assume were boxers, although he couldn’t be sure.
Bennett was hoping Elijah was wearing boxers, because knowing he slept next to his naked mate all night and yet they did absolutely nothing seemed almost wrong to Bennett.
Almost, Bennett thought yet again.
“If you’re going to be staring at me more often, I should start charging by the minute. You know, I’m kind of into it. Want me to do a little tease for you?”
Bennett startled, shifting in his seat and then blinking as he caught sight of Elijah slowly sitting up and raising both his arms, playfully flexing them while he yawned. He was clearly showing off the hard muscles he’d worked so hard on. Or maybe it was genetics. Bennett didn’t know for sure, anyway. The stubble on his face accentuated how handsome he was, and the ease and confidence that he showed almost made Bennett jealous.
Vampires—with the exception of a few very, very noteworthy examples—always looked so perfect.
But then he realized—Elijah was trying to preen and pose for him, right this very moment.
Also, now was the exact moment that Bennett realized his mate was definitely naked, and that was definitely his dick pointing straight up beneath the blankets.
And then Elijah moved a little bit, and the cock Bennett had been thinking about just appeared right in front of his very eyes.
Wow.
It was big, but it wasn’t the kind of big that would shock a person. Not that Bennett was a good judge of a man’s size, or anything, but it just looked…well-proportioned when compared to the rest of Elijah, who was tall. Much taller than Bennett, anyway, who was downright petite.
Not too big.
Not too small.
Just right.
…Calm down, Goldilocks.
Granted, Bennett wasn’t ever the type of person to be hung up on physique, or size for that matter, but it had been a long time since Bennett saw another man’s cock in real life. Elijah’s was curved upward a little, and it looked kind of like the thing was too thick to hold itself up straight.
Honestly—and Bennett would never admit to it—Elijah’s cock looked almost like a banana, with a slightly-crescent curvature.
Fuck. Was it weird that he was thinking that? Maybe it was. He hadn’t thought about another guy’s dick like this before.
Bananas were his favorite fruit, anyway.
Even though Bennett didn’t really have strong sexual urges usually, it looked good enough to eat. He actually considered just walking up to Elijah and putting that dick in his mouth.
Was that too much?
Maybe it was.
Given that Elijah was his mate, there probably wouldn’t be any issue.
But they’d also never done it before—so should a random blowjob really be their first time?
Bennett scrunched his face. What’s wrong with me? Why am I thinking about my mate’s dick like it’s a piece of tropical fruit?
Elijah was staring right back at Bennett, and the cocksure grin on his face had slowly melted into a look of concern. “But seriously, Bennett—are you okay?”
Bennett’s gaze snapped back up to Elijah, and he offered what he thought was a reassuring smile. “Couldn’t be better.” Fuck. Even he didn’t believe himself.
“Somehow, I don’t believe that,” Elijah replied. He patted the bed right next to him. “Come sit over here with me.”
“I’m not sure I can do that right now,” Bennett said, gesturing over to Elijah. “You’re…naked.”
Elijah looked down at himself, then back up at Bennett. “Well, yeah. Is that a problem?”
Bennett vehemently shook his head. “No! Not at all,” he replied. He definitely didn’t have a problem with his mate’s nudity.
Elijah tilted his head, a bewildered expression on his face. With a raise of a single eyebrow and a lopsided grin, he spoke. “Well, I told you last night that I slept naked. Do you not remember?”
Bennett shook his head once more. “I honestly don’t even know half of what’s going on right now,” he said, sighing and leaning back against the chair. “On our first date ever, I get shot at by the brother of the man who kept me captive. He does this because he thinks it’s a mercy over being killed by Cleaners—which, I have to admit, might be right. Now, I’m pulled into this yacht on some kind of pleasure cruise with you when I should be helping. Doing something…anything, really, that would make me feel much more useful to you all. Anything but being here. Instead, I’m being treated like some kind of VIP. We have staff catering to our every need, at our beck and call. It all feels so…wrong. I shouldn’t be relaxing right now. I know I shouldn’t be.”
Bennett hadn’t realized it until he stopped speaking, but his heart was beating faster and he was gripping the sides of his chair until his knuckles turned white.
Elijah blinked. “You okay there? Take a deep breath.”
Bennett nodded. He took a deep breath in, and then exhaled it all out slowly to try and calm himself down.
“I’m fine now,” Bennett said softly.
“Well, I can agree that it doesn’t really feel good to leave your friends and family behind,” Elijah said, leaning back against the headboard as he regarded Bennett with a watchful eye, as if he didn’t quite believe his mate. “Especially if it feels like they’re forcing you on a vacation while they deal with a big problem. But maybe there’s a reason they’re trying to keep you safe, too, you know?”
“What do you mean?” Bennett leaned forward in his seat, raising an eyebrow at Elijah.
“I’ll tell you,” Elijah began, but then he patted the wide bed right beside him, “if you come sit here with me.”
Bennett felt the corners of his lips pull upward into a smile, even though he really didn’t want to right now. Damn it. Elijah always knew how to make him smile. “Why can’t you tell me from way over here?” Bennett asked.
Elijah shrugged. “I thought it might be nice to cuddle up against my mate. When else are we going to have the opportunity?”
Much as Bennett didn’t want to admit it, Elijah was right. This might not have been the ideal time, but when else were they gonna have any time together?
Be
nnett stared at Elijah for a long moment, while the vampire kept patting the spot right next to him.
“Fine.” Bennett sighed, and slowly walked over to his naked mate, who immediately wrapped two sinewy arms around him and pulled him closer. Bennett chuckled, and leaned closer against Elijah, who kissed his temple softly.
Bennett felt the rough stubble of Elijah’s five o’clock shadow brushing against his skin, and the contained strength in those well-muscled arms settling around Bennett’s body to draw him closer, and it was…nice.
It was more than nice, actually. It made this warm feeling bloom through Bennett’s body, but he couldn’t quite name or place the emotion.
They had never done this before—they had never gotten this close, and this intimate—but for some reason, rather than give Bennett the anxiety he thought the act would, it instead made that heavy feeling inside of Bennett lighten up slightly and fade away. The earlier anxiety, borderline panic that had made him overwhelmed seemed to melt away. Elijah’s presence wrapped around Bennett felt like a blanket over his frayed nerves. It was comforting in a very real, surprising way.
Was this how mating felt?
Bennett didn’t know, but whatever this was—it was worth it. He hadn’t felt a sense of ease like this in the past two days.
Maybe his heart just knew where it belonged. That made sense, right?
“See? Now, was that so bad?” Elijah asked. He pulled away from his mate, and Bennett actually felt something inside of him protest at losing the feeling of the larger man’s body wrapped around his.
“No,” Bennett replied. “Not at all. I liked it.”
Elijah nodded. “That’s good. That’s all any of us really want for you. Most of all, me. Hell, especially me.”
Bennett tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
Elijah smiled. “Well, Bennett, we know how tough things have been for you. When things are at their hardest, we all need an escape. This just happened to be the most literal escape anyone could really think of.”
